From left, Zygmunt "Zygi" Wilf, his brother, Mark, and cousin, Leonard, listen as Judge Deanne Wilson announces her ruling in August that found they cheated their partners.Andrew Miller/ For The Star-Ledger

MORRISTOWN — A court-appointed attorney has recommended that Wilf family members pay $15.1 million to cover attorneys’ fees and other costs incurred by two business partners who successfully sued them over revenues from the 764-unit Rachel Gardens apartment complex in Montville.

The 126-page report issued Tuesday by “special master” Stephen Orlofsky, a former federal judge, comes on top of the $84.5 million in damages Superior Court Judge Deanne Wilson in Morristown already assessed against the Wilfs for systematically cheating the partners, Ada Reichmann and Josef Halpern, for more than 20 years.

In his report, Orlofsky said Wilson “best captured the essence” of the case with her finding that Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf – principal owner of the Minnesota Vikings and leader of his family’s Short Hills-based real estate empire – “was simply using (the partnership) as his own personal piggy bank, or the piggy bank of the Wilf organization.”

Orlofsky said the case has been “litigated ferociously” for more than 21 years and “involved a very complicated accounting scheme designed to divert money away from the plaintiffs and into the hands of the Wilf defendants.”

Wilson ruled in August that the Wilfs committed fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and violated the state’s civil racketeering statute, or RICO.

Her decision followed a trial that started in May 2011, ended in March 2013 and included 207 days of testimony by 40 witnesses. About half the testimony came from accounting experts, along with 30 days on the witness stand by “Zygi” Wilf, who was sued along with his brother and cousin.

Although the initial lawsuit was filed back in 1992 by Reichmann, the wife of a Toronto developer, the legal fees and costs sought by Reichmann dated back only to 2007, when she retained her current set of attorneys.

Halpern, of Brooklyn, the long-time on-site manager at Rachel Gardens, sought fees dating to 2009, when he joined the suit.

The award recommended for Reichmann totals $8.9 million and includes $7.1 million in attorneys’ fees paid to two law firms, one in Baltimore and one in New Jersey, along with $1.8 million in costs of “investigation and litigation.”

Included in the $1.8 million is $1.2 million in fees paid to accountant Jeffrey Barsky, who has been working on the case since 2008.

The $6.2 million proposed award to Halpern includes $4.6 million in attorneys’ fees, $400,000 for costs and $1.2 million as a “contingent fee enhancement.”

The Lebensfeld firm of Red Bank, which represented Halpern, was entitled to the “enhancement” because it took a “colossal risk” in representing Halpern on a contingency basis after he could no longer afford the hourly rates, Orlofsky said.

Orlofsky’s finding was sent to Judge Wilson, who can modify it or accept it, after also receiving requests for changes by the Wilfs and the partners.

The Wilfs had objected to paying many of the fees sought by their partners, saying they were excessive or not clearly described.

The family’s lead attorney, Sheppard Guryan, said he hasn’t had a chance to read the report in detail and needs to consult with the Wilfs before formulating a point-by-point response.

But Guryan, who has vowed to appeal every aspect of Judge Wilson’s decision, pointed out that Orlofsky’s $15.1 million recommendation is about $1.3 million less than the total of what Reichmann and Halpern requested.

“We have generally taken the position that we are not responsible for any attorneys’ fees,” Guryan said. “Certainly any award of attorneys’ fees will be subject to the appeal.”